All the outstanding covid induced restrictions have been lifted – Prez Akuffo Addo

All the outstanding covid induced restrictions have been lifted – Prez Akuffo Addo

The president of the republic of Ghana on Sunday, May 28, 2023 came to our homes with Covid 19 and IMF related issues.

In his speech, he started that It has been some time since I last came into your homes, so I want to thank you for having me again tonight. I have come because of two important events that both occurred last week on 17th May.

The first is an update on the COVID-19 pandemic; the second is the recent agreement we have reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Some three weeks ago, on 5th May, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that COVID was no longer a public health emergency of global concern.

The COVID-19 Taskforce, which I chair, met on 17th May and took some far-reaching decisions on the measures we have put in place for the management of the pandemic, which were announced by the Ghana Health Service on 19th May. The most important of these decisions was that the COVID-19 pandemic was over in Ghana.

Thus, all the outstanding Covid-induced restrictions at our airports and all entry points have been lifted, and we are back to the pre-COVID situation as far as health entry requirements are concerned.

He added that the emergency is over, and we can shake hands, we can hug, we can visit, and we no longer have to wear masks. But it is strongly recommended that we keep some of the measures imposed during the crisis and integrate them into our everyday lives because they have served us well and will continue to serve us well.

He urged us all to continue with the regular hand washing and other personal hygiene measures, so they become entrenched national habits indicating that there has been a dramatic decrease in diarrhoea diseases, and we have not had any cholera outbreaks these past three years – these developments are attributable mostly to the hand washing and improved hygiene regimen in our communities. It does not hurt to wear a mask if you have a cold for example, it might protect those around you.

If you are uncomfortable in a crowded and enclosed space, go out into the open and continue the new ways we have devised for outside entertainment. I hope there will be no argument that we should continue and institutionalize the periodic cleansing, disinfection and fumigation of markets. Never again should our markets be breeding grounds for rodents.

There are other ways in which this nightmare has brought some good dividends that must be acknowledged.

It has led to the strengthening of our disease surveillance system, and this has been manifested in recent months by our ability to deal, in a very rapid and aggressive way, with outbreaks of frightening diseases like Marburg, Lassa fever, Monkey Pox, before they could turn into serious public health catastrophes.

The pandemic also exposed some of the painful deficiencies we have, and forced us to take some brave and necessary decisions, like the expansion of our network of health facilities under Agenda 111.

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